Baby Moses
- stpeterstoronto
- Aug 7, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 29, 2025
Did you know...
that a Pharaoh in Egypt wanted all baby boys to be killed, but a smart mother saved her child with a basket?
This story is called Moses in the bullrushes.
A long time ago, a new Pharaoh ruled Egypt. He was very afraid of the hard-working Israelites and feared that they would gain power and take over his kingdom.
The cruel Pharaoh made the Israelites his slaves and treated them very badly. He made them work in the fields, make heavy bricks out of mud, and carry heavy stones to build new cities.
The Israelites worked from morning to night. But no matter how hard they worked, the Israelites had strong family lives and they continued to grow in number.
The Pharaoh came up with a plan and ordered that every baby boy that was born to a Israelite woman would be killed. All newborn Israelite boys should be thrown into the Nile River so that they might drown.
One Israelite mother from the tribe of Levi was afraid for her beautiful newborn son. She kept him hidden for three months, but was afraid someone would hear him crying. She came up with a plan to save her son.
The mother made a basket of reeds, covered it with tar so the water would not get in, and placed her son inside.
She set the baby afloat on the Nile River near the reeds hoping someone would find him and raise him in safety.
The boy's sister Miriam hid near the river at a distance to see what would happen to him.
When one of the Pharaoh's daughters came to bathe in the river, she saw the basket among the reeds. She asked her servant girl to get it for her. The princess opened the basked and discovered the beautiful little baby boy. She realized it was a Hebrew baby and he was supposed to be killed, but her heart melted when she heard his helpless cries, and she decided to keep him and hire a nursemaid to raise him.
Miriam was watching and asked the Pharaoh's daughter if she could help find someone to look after the baby. "Yes, thank you", said the princess. And so it came to be, that Miriam brought the baby's own mother to take care of the little boy for the princess.
The mother looked after her baby until he was old enough to be taken to the princess.
The Pharaoh's daughter adopted the child as her son and named the baby Moses - because I drew him out of the water. The name "Moses" sounds like a Hebrew term that means "to draw out".
Moses was raised in the Pharaoh's palace as the Pharaoh's grandson and grew up to do many, many great things.
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Learning Activity Extensions
Read about the story in the Bible: Exodus 1:8-22; 2:1-10
Colouring pages courtesy of Supercoloring.com.
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